America’s obesity rate could be set to plummet at one of the fastest rates in the world, according to a new report.

The nation’s obesity rate already appears to be dropping, the CDC says — after it found late last year that the proportion of American adults who are obese dropped from 42 percent to 40.3 percent over the last three years. 

That’s equivalent to 4.1million people reversing their obesity.

But now researchers at Treated, a weight loss company, say the rate could drop by another 10.6 percent over the next five years — with 2.17million people reversing their obesity every year.

This is much faster than the rate in Europe, home to 50 countries, where they said the rate would drop by just 6.6 percent over the same period — with 786,000 people exiting obesity every year over the same period.

Researchers said Ozempic and other weight loss drugs, which help people to lose weight fast with a weekly injection, were behind the rapid drops.

They added these drugs will have a much stronger impact in the US because more people in the country are obese and because people here are more willing to pay for and use the drugs.

There are also more people taking them in the US than in Europe, with estimates suggesting about one in eight Americans have now tried a weight loss drug — while XX PEOPLE IN EUROPE [IS THERE SOME KIND OF AVERAGE OR SOMETHING] HAVE NOW TRIED A WEIGHT-LOSS DRUG.

Despite the rapid drops, the researchers said the overall US obesity rate would still not fall below that in Europe, where 17 percent of citizens are obese.

Dr Daniel Atkinson, Treated’s clinical lead, said: ‘It’s possible we’ve seen obesity hit its peak, and the number of people falling out of obesity will begin to overtake the number of people entering this BMI bracket.

‘This could have a profound effect on preventing type 2 diabetes. It could also help prevent hundreds of thousands of cancer and cardiovascular disease cases annually.’ 

Obesity is a chronic condition characterized by an excessive accumulation of body fat that raises the risk of a multitude of health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and even cancer.

Studies have warned that it can negatively impact someone’s mental health, with people with the condition more likely to be depressed, suffer from poor body image or from stigma and discrimination.

For the report, researchers analyzed data from Treated — which prescribes weight loss drugs like Ozempic in the US and in 10 European countries.

The countries include Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the UK.

Data from national public databases on prescription rates for the drugs was also used in the analysis.

Overall, researchers estimated that by the start of 2026 at least 2.86million Americans will be actively using a weight loss drug (either Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound or Mounjaro). 

If this rate stays consistent, then they estimated the US could see 2.17million people fall out of the obese population each year between 2026 and 2030. 

If the trend persists, by 2030, researchers estimated 10million people could reverse their obesity.

In Europe, for comparison, they estimated that by 2026 some 994,000 people on the continent would be using a weight loss drug — less than half the number in the US.

People in southern states were more likely to be obese due to high prevalence of chronic disease and lack of access to healthy foods and recreational centers, researchers said

If this stays consistent, this would lead to 786,000 people reversing their obesity every year — or 1.3 percent of the obese population.

By the end of 2030, they estimated this could lead to 3.93million Europeans exiting obesity, or a drop of 6.6 percent in the continent’s rate.

The study did not account for other factors, however, such as the fact that studies suggest almost two thirds of patients regain the weight they lost after coming off Ozempic.

Dr Joseph Palumbo, senior medical adviser for Treated, said: ‘Knowing that obesity is a foundation of so many diseases, acute and chronic, I have been very excited and encouraged with these medications.

‘We truly have a tool along with dietary modifications and exercise to combat obesity without drastic life-altering surgical options.’

People on Ozempic or similar weight loss drugs inject themselves once a week, with the medication curbing appetite, leading to people eating less and shedding weight.

Uptake of weight loss drugs is already high in the US, with about 13 percent of adults — or 33million people — estimated to have ever tried at least one by 2024.

There are no clear public figures for how many people in the US are currently taking a weight loss drug.

For comparison, in Denmark — the European country where the drugs were invented — just 1.5 percent of adults are estimated to have used the drugs.

Despite the breakthrough in obesity medications, however, these drugs have been associated with undesirable side-effects — with many patients complaining of nausea, vomiting and constipation.

In more serious cases, patients have said they’ve suffered from pancreatitis — inflammation of the pancreas — stomach paralysis, and even blindness.

Several deaths have also been reported in people taking the drug, although it was not clear whether the drug directly led to the fatality.